Exceedingly Mundane

Tim is still working from home all weekend – basically working around the clock on his project. Which, as I blogged about yesterday, makes for an odd weekend for us – one spent around the house. I took the time and opportunity to do something I don’t get to do nearly as much of as I would like. Bake.

I love to bake. I think it’s the mathematical/computer side (is that Left Brain or Right Brain?) that I tend to like recipes that are exact, with exact measurements. Plus, I just always like the outcome more – sweet and sugary and fattening.

This afternoon, I made an old favorite, Black Bottom Banana Bars. To use up some old ripe bananas and to make something with a tiny bit of chocolate taste to satisfy my craving. The recipe is both on the extended page (click the Read more button) and also here on our main site, Hambones.org. As are all of the recipes that are in my “tried and true” files. Feel free to check them out if you’d like.

The result:

More pictures and full recipe on the extended page…

Read the rest of this entry »

This is an odd weekend for us – we’re actually staying around the house. Which is something we rarely do. Tim gets cabin fever after hanging around the house for a couple of hours on the weekends, so we inevitably end up going, going, going all weekend, every weekend. This weekend, though, he is working on a project at work and working at night, and on call for the rest of the time, so he’s rather forced into staying here. Me, I love it! It’s something we never do and something I wish we could do more.

Anyway, it makes for even more boring blogging than usual. 😛 We’re just hanging out, watching TV and movies, reading (me), hitting golf balls (Tim) and …. he cut the grass Friday PM. Nothing unusual about that, he cuts the grass once a week in the summer. However, this time was a bit different. One of our neighbors has a riding lawn mower and wanted Tim to borrow it and test it out. Now, if you’re familiar with our house, it’s small and our yard is even smaller. I bought this house expressly for those reasons – less to clean and heat/cool on the inside and less yard work to do on the outside. I used to cut the grass and weed-eat before I met Tim and the yard was a manageable size for me. Which means it’s a snap for Tim to keep up. Which also means, a riding mower is overkill.

If you want to see pictures of Tim on the riding mower, and also the hummingbirds that are swarming our feeder this afternoon, click on the extended entry. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 🙂

Read the rest of this entry »

I finished 3 books (“The Falls”, “I Do, but I Don’t” and “Jewels of the Sun”) that I had checked out from the library, and took them back a couple of days ago. I got four more, which are now on my sidebar. In case you’re interested, they are:

1. Tears of the Moon (2nd in the Irish Jewels trilogy) by Nora Roberts
2. Heart of the Sea (last in the Irish Jewels trilogy) by Nora Roberts
3. Track of the Cat (the first Anna Pidgeon book) by Nevada Barr
4. Match Me If You Can (a book my sister Gail read and liked) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

I will wait and write a review on the Nora Roberts trilogy after I read all three. 🙂

I went ahead and got 4 books, instead of my normal 3, since I knew I would be able to read more this weekend. Tim is working on a big project for work, and he’s working off and on around the clock all weekend. Friday night, he worked from about 9 PM to about 4:30 AM. Needless to say, I was sleeping during the majority of that, but still.. I hope to get more reading time in this weekend 🙂

Oh, and on a book-related note: the last couple of times I’ve been shopping to any store that sells books, I’ve perused the books section. I have added several more books to either my “library books” or “bookstore books” lists on my PDA. Sigh. I have really long lists for both. I just love books and love to read 🙄

I was running errands the other day, and had my Carrie Underwood CD playing in the car. When it got to this song, I turned it way up and started belting it out. 😛 Yes, I sing rather loudly, and badly, when no one is around and I’m either cleaning or driving around by myself. This is just one of those really good sassy, the-girl’s-got-attitude kind of songs.

The name of it is “Before He Cheats” and I’ve liked it (and several others) since I got this CD months ago. I was wondering when she would release it as a single. Then, this morning, I saw her singing on “Good Morning America” and she sang this song and said it was her new one. I’m so glad. I think it’s a great song (well, if you like country!)

I’ve been trying to find a way to insert an mp3 file in my blog entries, and I think, I hope, that I have finally figured it out. Please let me know if it does or does not work for you. Here’s the song, and the lyrics are on the extended page:

[audio:http://www.hambones.org/blogs/stacy/mp3/BeforeHeCheats.Mp3]
Before He Cheats, by Carrie Underwood

Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, August 11, 2006
Feast One Hundred & Six

Appetizer
Tell about a toy you remember from your childhood.If you’ve read much of my blog before (or you’re one of my sisters, LOL), you probably know that I have this huge gap in my memory where my childhood should be. I don’t remember much of anything. When I do get a random memory in my head, I get all excited, thinking “I remembered something!”. I have no idea why, but I don’t remember much. However, I do have a little stuffed dog that I had in later childhood or maybe my early teenage years that I loved. I named him “Rayford” and I still have him to this day.

Soup
If you could make one thing in the world absolutely free for everyone, what would it be? Off the top of my head, probably medical care. I think it’s a basic need and would go great lengths towards helping solve some of the world’s problems if everyone was fed and taken care of properly

Salad
Approximately how many times per day do you think about your significant other? A lot! He’s working from home a lot now (2-3 days a week usually) and I think of him because he’s here, and I think of him when he’s not here because I miss him 🙂

Main Course
What is something you believe in 100%? That Jesus died on the cross for my sins

Dessert
Name one thing you have done this week that you would consider a “good deed.”How about that guy I let pull out in front of me the other day, even though he didn’t wave or smile his thanks in any way?

UPDATE: OK, I did a really good deed this afternoon – I was in Walmart picking up some household and grocery items. There was a very elderly gentleman walking around, pushing a buggy, looking lost. I asked him if there was anything I could help him with, and he said he needed ice trays. I very slowly followed him to the housewares section (he was in the groceries) and searched several aisles quickly while he waited at the end of an aisle. Then, when I found the right aisle, I went and got him and took him where the trays were. They were on a bottom shelf, so I got out all the ones they had, and showed him and helped him decide which ones to get (we got the Rubbermaid ones, they were thicker!). I felt really good that I stopped to ask him. He looked very frail and was moving so slow. I hope I saved him some steps 🙂

There’s a country song whose chorus goes “like two sparrows in a hurricane, trying to find their way” or something like that. I took this picture earlier today and it made me think of that song.

We finally got some much-needed rain around lunchtime today. As I was walking by one of my breakfast room windows while it was raining pretty hard, I saw these 2 sparrows (or are they finches, I can never tell the difference!) huddled up on the back side of my hummingbird feeder. This feeder hangs from the eave, so they were effectively under shelter and out of the rain. They were so puffy and wet and all huddled up. I went and grabbed my camera and got 3 pictures before they saw me and flew away. Needless to say, 2 of them came out blurry (argh, must learn to use my camera soon) and then this one:

It’s still really hot and dry here. We haven’t had rain in over a week, and today it got so hot. I was inside, working on the computer, and noticed that my little weather icon on my computer was blinking red for a heat advisory – it was 100º with a heat index of 108º. Sheesh, I sure wish summer would wind down and we could get a break from this heat.

Anyway, it clouded up around 6:30 PM and started lightening and thundering. I got my hopes up that it might rain, and it sprinkled – for all of about 20 seconds. It barely dampened the pavement.

But, it was still cloudy and unsettled towards sunset and I got some decent pictures. I discovered, quite by accident, that I have a “sunset” mode on my camera!

I’ve had my iPod a little over a year now, and I still love the thing. Tim bought it for me last year (read about it here) before we left on vacation for Washington DC. He got me the red Toughskin that I wanted for my birthday last fall (it was documented here). I wanted the biggest, thickest, toughest casing I could find for it, since I’m very clumsy and seem to drop the thing a lot. Anyway, I’ve been really happy with it, except for one thing – the ear buds.

I am not sure what Apple had in mind when they designed the ear buds that they sell with their regular sized iPods. I mean, they seem really big to me! Maybe it’s just because I’m a girl, but these things are really too big for my ears. They’re uncomfortable and they fall out a lot, especially if I’m walking or really moving around at all with my iPod. So, for a while now, I’ve been looking for an alternative to these ear buds. I found a couple I thought I might like, but they were pricey. The ones that Apple wants to sell you are about $45 bucks and I just couldn’t see paying that, so I kept looking. I finally decided to try these ear bud covers from Griffin Technology. I got them a few days ago and so far I am trying to decide if I like them. I’ve used my iPod twice with them on (although not for walking because of my hurt ankle) and I think they fit my ear a lot better. I am not sure if they are going to stay in my ear any better though, because they stick out quite a bit further. So, on the comfort scale, they are better. On the sound quality front though, I don’t think they are quite as good. They are just snap on covers, but they seem to somehow change the overall sound of the music. The music doesn’t sound as “rich” somehow, it sounds a bit more “tinny” or something. I’m obviously not very musically inclined so I can’t tell exactly what’s changed, but it does sound different. The good thing is that I can snap them on and off, so overall, I think they’ll be ok. Best of all, I only paid 6.99 for them, so maybe it won’t be money wasted. I had bought a pair at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago, but they were 19.99 in there. When I came home and checked on Amazon and found them for 6.99, I returned those to Best Buy and ordered them!

OK, so do me a favor – if you have an iPod, please leave me a comment and let me know if you are still using the ear buds that came with it, if they fit well in your ears, and if not, what you are using instead. Thanks!

Oh, and here’s what they look like:

We rented a movie over the weekend and we stayed so busy that we didn’t have a chance to watch it until last night. It was Tim’s pick, and even though I was mumbling in the video store “I haven’t heard good things about that one, let’s get another one“, he got it anyway. We rented “The Matador” with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.

I almost hesitate to do book and movie reviews here, even though it is my blog and I think I’m allowed my own opinion.

However- Number one, I’m a pleaser and I don’t like confrontation. I like to go with the flow and do what makes everyone else happy. Number two – I also firmly believe that what one person likes, another dislikes. But, since it is my blog, I’m going to just state my opinion – we disliked this movie tremendously.

Even Tim, who picked it out, didn’t like it. It had a bad plot, not great acting, some raunchy parts, lots of bad language and it just drug on and on. Several times Tim and I glanced at each other and one would say “I wonder how much longer it’s going to be”. Ugh. Lots of people might like this movie (although it’s hard for me to see how), but we thoroughly disliked it. In fact, on a scale of 1-10, we give it a 2 or maybe a 3 at best. My recommendation would be to save yourself the money to rent it and that two hours of your life that you can never get back. I wish we had!

I finished a really great library book a couple of nights ago called “I Do, But I Don’t” by Cara Lockwood. This was my first book by this author and I hope it’s not the last. This one was, unfortunately, the only one available to me in my local library system, so I’ll have to head out to Borders one day and look for some more by this author.

After struggling through the last book, this one was a total and thorough joy to read. It was light, fun and frivolous, a true “chick lit” kind of book. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something light and engaging. It sort of reminded me of the movie “The Wedding Planner”, since the main character, Lauren, is a wedding planner in good ole Austin Texas. But the similarities end there and I must say, I really liked this book. It just ended too quickly. 🙂

For the record, that makes #46 for the year so far, with a total of 16,346 pages read. Up next is my last library book from the trip a couple of weeks ago, “Jewels of the Sun” by Nora Roberts. I might possibly be the only person on the planet not to have read any Nora Roberts (or J.D. Robb) books yet, but this is honestly my first. It’s also the first of a trilogy of books set in Ireland. I hope I enjoy it as well. After that, I’m not sure if I’ll get more at the library or actually try to read one I have bought and stacked in my bookcase. I have a feeling I’ll head back to the library and get more. I do so much better when I have a book with a due date on it, LOL! (Of course, that doesn’t stop me from buying books when I go to the bookstore!!!!)

I missed this meme on Sunday and meant to do it. Sorry I’m so late Sindee! 🙂

~Let’s Go Shopping~

By the way…
When out shopping, do you prefer to use cash, check, or a credit card? Credit card. We put everything on one card that pays us money back and then pay it off every month.
Would you describe yourself as a budgeter or a free spender? Budgeter. Saver. Frugal. Cheap. You name it, I’ve been called it 🙂
Do you use coupons and watch for sales? Absolutely, all the time.
Where do you do most of your everyday shopping? For groceries and household items, mostly at Walmart. With some Sam’s Club and Target thrown in for good measure
Name a favorite store where you buy clothing. Kohl’s. I’ve been buying most of my clothes there since our store opened 1 1/2 years ago. Love that place!
If you could go on a shopping spree in ANY store, which would it be and why? Right now, I would like nothing better than all new appliances for my kitchen. So, I guess Sears for Kenmore appliances, or Lowe’s or Home Depot for comparable ones. As a second choice, I’d get Pergo laminate flooring for our house and pay someone to install it so we wouldn’t have to do the labor!

Postscript: Even though these were easy to answer, the real “me” didn’t come out. I actually don’t like to shop that much. I’ve been married to Tim for so long, and he detests going shopping for anything. The longer we’re together, the more I am like that. I only go out of necessity, 98% of the time. I do like going with my sister or friends though. It’s much more fun to go shopping with the girls!

I ran across Org Junkie’s blog and post last week and saw that there was a new meme starting up revolving around menu planning. Yippee! I have been doing menu plans for quite a while now, and have been posting them over in the forums on our main website, Hambones.org. I have been a bit lax with posting them lately, mostly because I don’t think anyone looks at them. They help me tremendously though, both for grocery shopping, reducing stress, knowing what meat I need to take out to thaw, etc, on a daily basis.

So, this week, I’m going to start participating in this meme on Mondays. I’ll post my menu, some items with links to the recipes on our main site, and some will have “TBD” – to be determined. We tend to eat out on the weekends a lot. We like to have date night!

Anyhoo, here we go, first time to do Menu Planning Monday:

Monday – Grilled Chicken Salad, with Maple-Mustard dressing

Tuesday – Toss up. The hubby is going to try to play golf with a friend. If he does, I’ll make Maple BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, veggie, probably chips or fries. If he doesn’t play golf, he’s going to get to grill out. 😆 Chicken for him, salmon for me, baked sweet potatoes, veggie or salad.

Wednesday – breakfast food (probably eggs, oatmeal, toast)

Thursday – something new – Annie’s Organic cheeseburger macaroni, corn, homemade bread

Friday – Date Night (eat out) or Frozen Pizza

Saturday – Frozen Pizza or Date Night 🙂

Sunday – TBD

P.S. I’m also on the hunt for a homemade spaghetti sauce, preferably a crockpot one. If anyone has a recipe they’ve used and liked, I’d love to see it. I have been using a jarred Prego sauce, which we like, but I’d like to try a homemade one.

1. Are you working on any big projects around your house right now? Not at the moment. I have a lot I want to do, but we haven’t found or made the time to start any of them. I also have a long to-do list for Tim, but he hasn’t touched that in a long time! 😆
2. If so, tell us about it; if not, do you have any plans to do so in the near future? We want to pull up the carpeting in the living room and dining room and put down laminate flooring. We’re also looking at rearranging the den, getting rid of some furniture, and getting a bigger entertainment center to hold the big screen TV that Tim wants to buy 🙄
3. How do you generally pay for merchandise at your local store? Debit, credit, check, or cash? Credit. We put everything on one card that earns us money back and then pay it off at the end of the month.
4. Which month of the year seems to go by the fastest? Probably December
5. Which day of the week seems to go by the fastest? Friday
6. Have you taken up any new hobbies lately? No, but I’m doing a lot of reading and loving it. I want to pick back up scrapbooking, but I can’t seem to make the time to dive in, between blogging and reading (and staying so busy with Tim at night and on the weekends)

Nada, nothing. Got nothing blog-worthy today

We were gone all day yesterday, helping my dad. We also got to stop and see Tim’s brother Mark, Amanda, Ethan and Abby and go out to eat dinner with them before heading home. Which is always nice 😀 Today, we’re going to go run a bunch of errands, maybe watch a movie, and then settle in tonight to watch the first NFL preseason game on TV. We’ll have to tape The 4400 and watch it later in the week.